'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Failed Dictators
By Baron Dave Romm
Hell
and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and
What We Should Do by Joseph Romm.
A clear, concise and
convincing book on climate change and why we need to hurry to fix the
problem.
Shockwave Radio Theater
Podcasts
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broadcasts on archive.org
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In early 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "We are seeing history unfold. Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin and Ceaucescu in the pantheon of failed, brutal dictators."
Can we really trust the historical judgment of someone who's big accomplishment between gigs as Defense Sec. was using his political connections to get the approval of Nutrasweet, aka "Rummy Powder"?
I'm rerunning this chart now that both Rummy and Saddam have left the stage. The only update regards the fate of Saddam Hussein. Is being hung after 40 years in power to be considered a failure? Professional sports players regularly take performance-enhancing drugs so they'll be on top of the world for a decade and then die young. Saddam's ignobal death vies for Brittany Spear's twat on YouTube and provides fodder for commedians while shaming pro-war Republicans. We shall see how badly Rumsfeld fares in the eyes of history.
No one will argue the "brutal dictator" part, but just what constitutes "failure" on the part of dicatorship? If "being evil" is automatically considered a failure, members of the Bush administration are in deep doo-doo. Other considerations must be used: Did they last long enough to enjoy being a dictator? Did they die still in power, successful and unchallenged? Did they succeed in creating a dictatorship that survived their death? Herein is a quick comparison, using Rummy's list.
| Dictator | Time at the top | Power at death | Legacy | Failure? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitler | Twelve years as chancellor/fuhrer | Committed suicide as Allied troops closed in, country in flames | Third Reich failed spectacularly, country divided for over 40 years | Unmitigated Failure | |
| Lenin | Seven years | Died as head of state, still revered today | Soviet Union lasted about 65 years after his death and became the model for many nations | Unqualified Success | |
| Stalin | Twenty Eight years | Died at the peak of his power and influence | Soviet Union lasted almost 40 years after his death | Success | |
| Ceaucescu | Twenty One years | Executed after being overthrown in a coup | While his Communist regime was toppled, what replaced it hasn't worked and former Communists are the second largest political party | Mixed | |
| Saddam Hussein | Forty years: Sixteen as member of Regional Command (1963-1979), Twenty Four as President (1979-2003) | A martyr and hero in much of the arab world and more popular than Bush in Iraq. Defiant in his one showtrial, died with more dignity than his executioners | Without him, his country is in turmoil and civil war due to invasion of US. Baathist and Sunni forces struggling but succeeding militarily and gaining political power | Personal success, with legacy to be determined |
Play the Failed Dictators Game (tm) at home! Create your own Pantheon of favorite (or least favorite) dictators, and judge how they fared. Tojo, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Richard Nixon! Use historical figures from different centuries! Mix and match! Trade with your friends!
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Daniel Gross: Plutocrats of the People (slate.com)
Why are America's superrich suddenly fretting about income inequality?
Just say no to cooking (guardian.co.uk)
Mothers typically spend nearly three years of their lives stirring, baking and stewing. It doesn't have to be this way, says Joanna Moorhead.
The horror of hen nights (guardian.co.uk)
Bunny ears, phallic straws and lewd behaviour with a bunch of virtual strangers - and it all costs a fortune. Hannah Pool on why hen dos should be banned.
Bonnie Goldstein: Raves For Sale (slate.com)
How to buy a favorable book review.
Marina Hyde: Lost in showbiz (guardian.co.uk)
Posh stars in her very own LA story.
Interview by Laura Sheahen: 'It's All God': Interview with Dennis Quaid (beliefnet.com)
The star talks about exploring other faiths--and how his core belief in Jesus helped him rebuild his life.
Cartoon: I Drew This
Hubert's Poetry Corner
TEXAS STATEHOUSE OR WHOREHOUSE?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and windy.
Been getting a message - 'Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low. Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see Help.'
Should I be concerned?
2007 Awards
Producers Guild
The offbeat, dark comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" was the surprise winner of the top feature film award presented by the Producers Guild of America.
Comedies rarely fare well during awards season. The Producers Guild's nod Saturday to "Little Miss Sunshine" was even more of a surprise given that "Babel" won the award for best drama at last week's Golden Globe ceremony and "Dreamgirls" won the Golden Globe for best comedy/musical.
The road trip movie "Cars" from Disney-Pixar was chosen by the guild as best animated film.
The award for episodic TV comedy went to "The Office," while "Grey's Anatomy" won in the drama category.
Producers Guild
Offering 4 $5K Scholarships
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys wants to help talented youngsters go to college, so the Grammy award winner is offering $5,000 scholarships to students from four cities.
"We're just looking for standout students who are definitely college-bound and need a little bit of help financially to really achieve their dreams," Keys said.
The four scholarship winners will be selected from Jacksonville, New Orleans, Atlanta and New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
In return for their scholarships, the winners will represent the organization at school appearances and must perform community service each semester.
Alicia Keys
Alberta Ballet Production
Joni Mitchell
The reclusive Joni Mitchell, singer-songwriter, environmentalist, painter and icon for a generation, is dancing up a storm of interest over her latest creation - a ballet set to her own music and artwork.
Mitchell has joined with the Alberta Ballet Company to produce "The Fiddle and The Drum," which will be performed over five dates between Calgary and Edmonton next month.
Since dance rehearsals began two months ago, calls for interviews have been ringing in from all over the world.
For Mitchell, who will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on Jan. 28, it's even more daunting because it's her big debut after years away from the public eye.
Joni Mitchell
CNN's $4 Million Man
Anderson Cooper
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has reportedly signed a new contract with the network, guaranteeing him at least $4 million per year.
The new deal with Cooper, host of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," would more than double his previous salary and allow him to continue in his side role as a contributor to the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes."
Cooper has emerged as the new face of CNN in recent years, with his profile elevated in the wake of acclaimed work in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He has been with CNN since 2001 following stints at ABC News and Channel One News. Viewership for "360" was up 24% in the fourth quarter.
Anderson Cooper
Brings $5.5M At Auction
Shelby Cobra
An 800-horsepower Shelby Cobra, once the personal car of the racing veteran who developed the iconic sports car, has sold for $5.5 million at auction, a record for an American car.
The sale of the 1966 Shelby Cobra "Super Snake" brought a packed house to its feet Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction after a pair of bidders drove the price up.
Carroll Shelby, 84, who created the Cobra in the '60s using Ford engines and a British sport car chassis, said he built the Super Snake - with twin superchargers on a 427 cubic inch V-8 - and drove it for years.
Barrett-Jackson said the $5.5 million price tag for the Cobra was not an overall world record car price, since others have sold at auction for more than $11 million. However, it is a world record for American cars, said Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson president.
Shelby Cobra
Divorce Deal?
McCartneys
Heather Mills is set to pocket around £1,000 an hour for her four-year marriage to Sir Paul McCartney. The estranged wife of the former Beatle has finally agreed a £32m cash and property out-of-court deal, according to the News Of The World. It says the 38-year-old will receive Sir Paul's £4m luxury Georgian house in St John's Wood, London as well as his £6m home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
A "well-placed source" is quoted as saying: "This way Paul gets to have the divorce in private, which is all he ever wanted, and Heather avoids risking her case falling apart."
The deal was thrashed out by the same lawyers who dealt with Charles and Diana's £17m divorce in 1996.
McCartneys
Reuniting for Coachella
Rage Against the Machine
The leftist rock band Rage Against the Machine will reunite after a seven-year hiatus for a single performance at a southern California rock festival in April, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
The chart-topping quartet, famed for its angry denunciations of capitalism even as it recorded for a label owned by Sony Corp., will play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the paper said, quoting unspecified sources.
The desert festival will take place over three days beginning April 27, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
Rage Against the Machine
Mixtape Future In Question
Atlanta Raid
The high-profile police raid of the Aphilliates Music Group office in Atlanta that resulted in the arrest of DJ Drama and the confiscation of 81,000 mixtape CDs has ignited a firestorm in the hip-hop music industry.
Drama is arguably the top mixtape DJ working today, having created buzz-generating, prerelease mixes for top stars including T.I., Young Jeezy and Lil' Wayne. In addition to sneak previews from upcoming CDs, mixtapes can feature unreleased remixes of songs and casual freestyling. According to at least a few sources with direct knowledge of such deals, mixtape DJs have been paid by record labels to include up-and-coming artists and upcoming releases on such mixes.
Because the Recording Industry Association of America was involved in the January 16 arrest of Drama, retailers and sources involved in hip-hop marketing are left wondering about the future of the crucial marketing tool, and angered over the perception that the RIAA is working selectively when it comes to enforcement.
Within 24 hours of the late-afternoon raid, some online sites, brick-and-mortar stores and even chains hurried to pull questionable product from bins, as DJs and mixtape distributors expressed fears that they too could soon be arrested.
Atlanta Raid
'Go To Hell, Gringos!'
Hugo Chavez
President Hugo Chavez told U.S. officials to "Go to hell!" on his weekly radio and TV show Sunday for what he called unacceptable meddling after Washington raised concerns about a measure to grant Venezuela's fiery leftist leader broad lawmaking powers.
On Friday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Chavez's plans under the law "have caused us some concern."
Chavez rejected Casey's statement in his broadcast, saying: "Go to hell, gringos! Go home!"
Relations between Caracas and Washington have been tense since Chavez was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup that he claimed the U.S. played a role in. The Bush administration has repeatedly denied being involved, although it recognized an interim government established by coup leaders.
Hugo Chavez
LTTE Brings Secret Service Visit
Dan Tilli
An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein's execution that "they hanged the wrong man" got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening resident Bush.
The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."
Tilli said the statement was not a threat. "I didn't say who - I could've meant (Osama) bin Laden," he said Friday.
Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.
Dan Tilli
Dismal Iraq Forecast
Historians
To historians and others pondering Iraq, forecasting a final outcome for that sad land is like finding your way through one of its "shamal" sandstorms. You may not know where you're headed, but you know it's going to be dark.
The Middle East historian David Fromkin sees a breakup of the jerry-built nation. Phebe Marr, doyenne of Iraq scholars, sees "distrust and suspicion" too deep to overcome. "Bleak," concludes Baghdad University's Saad al-Hadithi.
In interviews with The Associated Press, few experts see much chance that resident Bush's plan to add 21,500 troops to the U.S. force in Baghdad and western Iraq will suppress either the anti-U.S. insurgency or the bloody underground warfare between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, or induce a political settlement among the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions.
Historians
Fails To Meet Basic British Standards
Guantanamo
The U.S. detention center in Guantanamo fails to meet even basic British standards for prisoners, British lawmakers who visited the base said on Sunday.
A cross-party parliamentary committee also said a new U.S. military commissions system, expected to start trying terrorism suspects this year, gave cause for concern and London should raise any human rights misgivings with Washington.
Guantanamo "fails to achieve minimum United Kingdom standards on access to exercise and recreation, to lawyers, and to the outside world through educational facilities and the media," the Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report.
Guantanamo
Israeli TV Show
Uri Geller
A war between magicians is raging in Israel, pitting Uri Geller and his aura of supernatural powers against those who see in him nothing but an unending lust for fame.
"Uri Geller Looks for a Successor" was an instant hit -- with viewer ratings of nearly 40 percent. More than a million people tune in to see conjurers compete by performing stunts ranging from stopping watches to reading minds.
In an interview with AFP, Geller insisted that the prime-time show does not involve sleight of hand -- and that the participants do actually have supernatural powers capable of performing marvels.
James Randi, an American and an international authority on debunking alleged paranormal powers, has blasted the Israeli magicians' society for not yet coming out against Geller.
Uri Geller
Jaywalking UK Historian
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
A British history professor has caused a stir in Atlanta, and back home in Britain, over his arrest this month after he tried to cross the road outside an Atlanta hotel where he was attending a conference.
According to a police report, officer Kevin Leonpacher, working off-duty for hotel security and wearing a jacket marked "Atlanta Police," blew his whistle for Fernandez-Armesto to stop crossing Courtland Street in central Atlanta on January 4 and directed him to a crosswalk.
The historian ignored Leonpacher who then asked "as many as ten times" for Fernandez-Armesto's identification. When he refused and instead demanded Leonpacher's identification, the officer made an arrest, the report said.
Fernandez-Armesto was detained for eight hours before being taken before a judge who dismissed a charge of disorderly conduct.
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
Unemployment Denied
Emmalee Bauer
An administrative judge has denied unemployment benefits to a woman who was fired from her job for keeping a journal detailing her efforts to avoid work.
Emmalee Bauer, 25, of Elkhart, was employed by the Sheraton hotel company as a sales coordinator in Des Moines. While on the job, she kept a handwritten journal. A supervisor told her to stop writing on company time, but instead, Bauer wrote her journal, all 300 single-spaced pages, on her work computer.
In the journal, portions of which were introduced during a recent hearing regarding Bauer's request for unemployment, Bauer describes her efforts to avoid work.
Emmalee Bauer
In Memory
Ron Carey
Ron Carey, an actor best known for his work as Officer Carl Levitt, a cocky, height-challenged policeman on the 1970s TV comedy "Barney Miller," has died. He was 71.
Carey also appeared in several Mel Brooks movies, including "High Anxiety" and "History of the World Part I."
Carey was born Ronald Joseph Cicenia on Dec. 11, 1935, in Newark, N.J.
He launched his stand-up comedy career in New York after earning a bachelor's degree in communications from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., in 1956. He made his first national television appearance a decade later on "The Merv Griffin Show." Appearances on "The Tonight Show" and the "Ed Sullivan Show" followed.
Carey is survived by his wife, Sharon, and his brother, Jimmy Cicenia.
Ron Carey
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